Where did Surface RT tablet go?

They don't have them at walmart, bestbuy, office depot, newegg, nowhere! I'd like to test one out but so far I've only been able to find them at Microsoft's direct online store and Amazon, but they're an average 50-75 bucks more on amazon...Why do I feel there's some sort of embargo on these tablets

They're only sold by Microsoft i believe. The other retailers are people that bought them from Microsoft as normal customers and are trying to cash in. Notice how those on Amazon aren't actually sold by Amazon itself, but by third parties. The same applies with Ebay. Basically, Microsoft are the only authorized retailers of them, but that doesn't stop people from buying some and selling them on.

I'm gonna wait for the pro before I get my surface, TBH the RT tablet looks pretty good for a tablet, whether better or not than the iPad is debateable (but I do like ability to increase storage + those beautiful USB ports, which iPad obviously do not have).

But at end of the day the reason I want a surface is for a tablet/laptop hybrid which the pro looks like it could be the first real fantastic one of the genre.

As people have said though, only authorised sellers are microsoft, not quite sure why they did that but meh it seems to be working looking at the sales figures which while below predictions are definitely still pretty strong.

Ignoring the overly seething rage he is technically right. Windows RT runs of an ARM processor instead of a x86 processor. So all legacy software won't work only new Metro apps which thus far are very very limited and/or broken. The Windows RT tablet really won't be worth it for at least a couple months until the Windows App store really gets rolling.

I'm gonna wait for the pro before I get my surface, TBH the RT tablet looks pretty good for a tablet, whether better or not than the iPad is debateable (but I do like ability to increase storage + those beautiful USB ports, which iPad obviously do not have).

But at end of the day the reason I want a surface is for a tablet/laptop hybrid which the pro looks like it could be the first real fantastic one of the genre.

As people have said though, only authorised sellers are microsoft, not quite sure why they did that but meh it seems to be working looking at the sales figures which while below predictions are definitely still pretty strong.

A classmate of mine got the Lenovo Yoga, which looked pretty nice (though pricey at $1,000). You also have the ASUS VivoTab (the one running Pro, not the VivoTab RT), the Dell XPS (the screen that flips is neat), and the ASUS Taichi (or whatever it's called), which has the dual screens (one for laptop use and one for tablet use), though it is a pricey $1,500 or something.

There are several nice form factors among the hybrids out now, if you don't care to wait until at least February (they said 90 days from Surface RT to Surface Pro, which means late-February at best). You are right, though. The only retailers of the Surface RT are the Microsoft stores and their online counterpart. There are allegations that Verizon might get them. That would make sense, as when my sister got her Lumia 822 there a week+ ago (I have a Lumia 920 on AT&T myself), they had a Surface running above the test models of the Windows Phones, but it was built into a big frame/mount so you couldn't move it or anything.

Ignoring the overly seething rage he is technically right. Windows RT runs of an ARM processor instead of a x86 processor. So all legacy software won't work only new Metro apps which thus far are very very limited and/or broken. The Windows RT tablet really won't be worth it for at least a couple months until the Windows App store really gets rolling.

Yeah, that's a legitimate problem, but you will have that issue (not having legacy software) if you got from an x86 computer to ANY ARM platform. You're not going to get Steam and its games on your iPad, Surface RT, Transformer, or anything of the sort. The only difference between the platforms (in terms of apps) is that there are MORE apps for the competition's devices. Even then, I saw an article a few weeks back that said 400,000+ of the alleged 700,000 iOS apps have NEVER been downloaded. Take that as you will, but it tells me what is sort of obvious--there are a LOT of useless and copycat applications that pump up the App Store and Google Play app numbers, so those totals aren't entirely accurate.

One thing that I'll leave a link to is a report (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ly-higher-rate) that states that a greater percentage of Windows Phone users are spending money on apps that their Android and iOS counterparts. Granted, one of the two factors with that are many users are new to the WP platform and just getting into buying their favorite apps, so it makes sense that WP would be beating Android and iOS in sales on THAT front. The other factor is app pricing. On iOS (and I believe Android), games like Words With Friends are $0.99. On Windows Phone, that game is $2.99, as is Draw Something. Those games (and many others) also lack true free version, instead having trial versions (some being just ad-supported free versions and some having a limited number of levels or a timed amount of usage).

Words With Friends and Draw Something fall into the crappy category of having no free OR trial versions. The exception there is that Lumia users (through Nokia's continued benevolence--they're so awesome, seriously) can get a free, ad-supported version of each, but that leaves the non-Nokia users (which mostly means 8X users) out in the cold on that front.

Now, Windows Phone isn't Windows RT, but Windows RT runs on the same app store as Windows 8, where apps cost EVEN MORE. The $0.99 Angry Birds titles on Android, iOS, and Windows Phone are $4.99 on Windows 8, and other games are the same way. So, basically, Windows is charging more for the best-known applications, it seems, which gives developers more incentive to develop for the platform. It sucks for consumers when they realize that apps cost more on Windows Phone at times (it's not always the case), but it's great for Microsoft and developers, both who will have more incentive to work together and create more revenue.

All of that text I put above is why I think that Microsoft has a better chance of growing its app selection more quickly than it has.

If the platform was any good i doubt machine makers would be abandoning plans for devices so fast, yet Toshiba did a few months ago, HP recently announced its not making any more RT devices and more are to follow.

Within a few months the market will be flooded with cheap x86 tablets and RT will seem like another Windows Phone 7 disaster that gets rapidly abandoned by Microsoft.

I stand by my observation of 1-2 months ago, that it is priced 50-100 dollars too high.

I agree on that. I think that the HARDWARE is worth the price, but the infancy of the OS means they need to sell a bit low (like how Nokia's Lumia 920 is only $100 at AT&T, despite having many advantages over a $200 flagship from Motorola, Samsung, or Apple). It's sort of the cost of trying to compete in a well-developed market years later.

---------- Post added 2012-11-27 at 02:47 AM ----------

Originally Posted by foil

If the platform was any good i doubt machine makers would be abandoning plans for devices so fast, yet Toshiba did a few months ago, HP recently announced its not making any more RT devices and more are to follow.

Within a few months the market will be flooded with cheap x86 tablets and RT will seem like another Windows Phone 7 disaster that gets rapidly abandoned by Microsoft.

In all fairness, I don't want anything from Toshiba, and I'll never buy from HP after the mess of a failure from their customer service/warranty department my first time around. Who else dogged RT/Surface? Acer. Acer sucks. So, what I am seeing is a trio of manufacturers I don't give a damn about whining.

For those unwilling to spend for a powerful x86 device, an RT tablet (or a hybrid like the VivoTab RT or Surface RT) is better than a Transformer Infinity or new iPad for $100+ more, but that's just my opinion.

Disclaimer: I hate Apple, and I know that my opinion is often an unpopular one in the world.

If the platform was any good i doubt machine makers would be abandoning plans for devices so fast, yet Toshiba did a few months ago, HP recently announced its not making any more RT devices and more are to follow.

Within a few months the market will be flooded with cheap x86 tablets and RT will seem like another Windows Phone 7 disaster that gets rapidly abandoned by Microsoft.

Except that ARM are the largest of their type in the mobile sector, but it's going to take time for companies to adapt their development tools to work with RT. If Microsoft loosen the reins a little, it'd help, but there's no requirement to since the tools will roll around eventually. It's in the benefit of ARM to promote it to an extent, as it leads to more sales for them in the end.

It might die. It might not. If Microsoft provides enough incentive to developers, then it'll flourish. We won't know for some time though.

Originally Posted by Lilfrier

Even then, I saw an article a few weeks back that said 400,000+ of the alleged 700,000 iOS apps have NEVER been downloaded. Take that as you will, but it tells me what is sort of obvious--there are a LOT of useless and copycat applications that pump up the App Store and Google Play app numbers, so those totals aren't entirely accurate.

The number of "SCAN YOUR FINGERPRINT" bullshit apps that are on the iOS store is ridiculously high. The number of people who apparently believe it are even higher. Thus, the numbers are even further off of their announced totals.

The number of "SCAN YOUR FINGERPRINT" bullshit apps that are on the iOS store is ridiculously high. The number of people who apparently believe it are even higher. Thus, the numbers are even further off of their announced totals.

Indeed so. I'll bet if you go look for a PDF reader on the app stores for Android and iOS, you'll find 10 or more. If you go search on the Windows Phone app store, you find one, and it does what you'd expect--it reads .pdf files. I don't care how many apps you can make fart noises with, man. Nothing on iOS or Android touches Wordament.